The Minardi PS04B was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

race car used by

Minardi Minardi was an Italian automobile racing team and constructor founded in Faenza in 1979 by Giancarlo Minardi. It competed in the Formula One World Championship from 1985 until 2005 with little success, nevertheless acquiring a loyal following ...

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

in the 2004 Formula One season and the first 3 rounds of the

2005 Formula One season The 2005 FIA Formula One World Championship was the 59th season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 56th FIA Formula One World Championship, contested over a then-record 19 Grands Prix. It commenced on 6 March 2005 and ended 1 ...

Background

In 2003 all of the Arrows A23 chassis and the full

Arrows Grand Prix International Arrows Grand Prix International was a British Formula One team active from to . It was known as Footwork from 1991 to 1996. Origins The Arrows Grand Prix International team was founded in Milton Keynes, England in November 1977, by Italian ...

intellectual property rights were bought by Minardi. The Arrows A23 was renamed the

Minardi PS04 The Minardi PS04 was a Formula One racing car of the Italian racing team Minardi, which was developed in autumn 2003, but was not used in any Formula One race in this form. Instead, the team contested the 2004 season with the Minardi PS04B, which ...

and in back-to-back tests it was found superior to the Minardi's PS03. Minardi however decided that they could not run a "pure-Arrows" and hence used the Arrows intellectual property, which included the new designs for a proposed Arrows A24 and the best elements from the PS03 and the Arrows A23/PS04 to develop the Minardi PS04B for the 2004 season. Period reports even hinted that the PS04B was possibly based more closely on the Arrows A23 than Minardi might have been prepared to publicly admit.

Racing history

The PS04B was driven by rookie

Gianmaria Bruni Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni (born 30 May 1981) is an Italian Porsche factory auto racing driver who drove in the 2004 Formula One World Championship for Minardi. He is a GP2 Series race winner and is now racing in the FIA World Endurance Championsh ...

, and Zsolt Baumgartner who had moved from

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. The team managed to earn their first point in two years, after Baumgartner finished 8th at the

United States Grand Prix The United States Grand Prix is a motor racing event that has been held on and off since 1908, when it was known as the American Grand Prize. The Grand Prix later became part of the Formula One World Championship. , the Grand Prix has been held ...

. For

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

used a PS04B chassis for the first three races of the season before they made a new PS05 chassis due to assembly problems. The engine name changed from CR-3L to CK2004, but it was basically the same engine.

Sponsorship and livery

The team's black and white livery saw the addition of

Superfund Superfund is a United States federal environmental remediation program established by the Comprehensive Environmental Response, Compensation, and Liability Act of 1980 (CERCLA). The program is administered by the United States Environmental Pro ...

's deep green to the engine covers. The following season, it was removed. During the

British Grand Prix The British Grand Prix is a Grand Prix motor racing event organised in the United Kingdom by Motorsport UK. First held by the Royal Automobile Club (RAC) in 1926 British Grand Prix, 1926, the British Grand Prix has been held annually since 1948 ...

, the team ran with no sponsors, replacing them with the words "John Boy" in honor to Sporting Director John Walton, who died from a heart attack. At the 2005 Australian Grand Prix, the team celebrated 10 years of Melbourne holding a race at Albert Park; the logo was presented on the engine cover.

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position) * All points scored with the PS05.

References

External links

Minardi PS04B Technical Specs
{{F1-stub Minardi Formula One cars